Decisions, decisions

Our family is at a cross-roads.  Our son Prince will be leaving elementary school behind next month, and we have some very big decisions to make in regards to where he will be attending middle school next year.  Ordinarily, you just send your child to the local public school, but our situation is a bit more complicated than that.  First off all, we have several options.  There is the regular public school (which if you knew me you would realize that I am very anti-public school in our area), there is a charter elementary/middle school, there is a charter middle/high school, and there is a special charter school for all ages.  If you are not familiar with a charter school, these are free public schools (and not the kind that I am against like in my first statement).  Our kids have gone to a FABULOUS charter school for the last four years.  In our household, we LOVE charter schools. 

If this decision was for Princess, we would probably just send her to one of the more traditional charter schools.  But alas, this decision is not for Princess.  It is for Prince.  That might sound like a double standard, but in this case it is not.  For any one that is not familiar with my son, just to look at him you would think that there is nothing out of the ordinary.  That assumption would be incorrect.  Prince was diagnosed with early onset bipolar disorder, ADHD, ADD, anxiety, and depression.  We are also thinking that there are some sensory issues coming into play lately. 

Depending on how he is currently responding to his medication, his mood changes.  At the moment, Prince is in an up cycle.  That is to say, he is manic.  For the last several weeks, his behavior has been getting harder to control.  This last week it came to a head (at least that is my hope).  For him, when he feels out of control, he regresses with his behavior.  Over the last weekend, he literally has been acting like a three year old.  According to the doctor, this is most likely his "natural" state when out of control.  They have increased his medication, and we are hoping to avoid this getting any worse.  In fact, this episode is the worst one I have seen from him to date.  I feel like the increased medication is working, but time will tell.

This leads me back to the big decision.  Do we put him in a traditional-style middle school that most likely will not be able to fully support him when it comes to these types of issues?  Or do we put him in a school that will definitely be able to support him, but is not a school for "traditional" students?  What types of behaviors will he pick up from this type of school?  I love that we have so many options, but none of them seem to be the "perfect" fit.  How do I as a parent make the best choice for my child?  We have been praying over this issue for weeks.

We attended a walk through of the special school today.  I have to say, we were pretty impressed with what we saw.  After talking with the staff, seeing the students and how they are handled, and then watching a staff member with Prince while he was literally flying through their hall, I believe we are ready to make this next step.  I believe that we are making the correct decision, and pray that everything is working out as it is supposed to.  I am putting my anxiety and worry to the Lord.  I know that my son is in the best hands possible, the Lord's.